As the use of optical fibers increases at a rapid rate, there is a corresponding increase in the number of fiber optic cables at any given installation. At a cable installation, fiber optic cables typically have terminal end portions that are mated in an enclosure, such as a patch panel, for example, that may include a panel wall that provides a juncture for incoming and outgoing cables. The panel wall may include connection sleeves, and a pair of fiber optic connectors may be inserted into the opposed ends of the fiber optic connector sleeve to align the fiber optic connectors to a degree such that the optical fibers upon which the fiber optic connectors are mounted are appropriately aligned with one another for transmission of a signal between the cables with minimal loss of signal.
The amount of space in an enclosure is generally limited and it may not be possible for the cables to extend linearly away from the panel wall in the plane of the connection. Further, in order to accommodate an increased number of cables, the cables may often need to be bent near the terminus through a radius of up to and including ninety degrees. Fiber optic cables however, have bending restraints, one of which is the minimum bend radius. If care is not taken when bending the cable, the bending of the cable may surpass the minimum bend radius of the optical fiber, and this could lead to attenuation, or even breakage of the optical fiber in the cable.
Cable guides can be used to provide and retain a fixed bend in an optical fiber cable to ensure that the cables are not bent beyond their minimal radius of curvature. Because of the confines of available space it is desirable that the guides be compact while also being functional to retain the cable securely within the guide. The guides should be easily attachable to the cable, and relatively easy to remove from a cable when no longer needed, or for reuse for another cable, for example. In addition, the guides should also be rotatable with the cable relative to the connection plane to allow the bent cables to be displaced and provide access to neighboring cables or connectors that may be underneath the bend.
There remains a need for an easy to use cable guide that satisfies the above requirements while providing for a desired bending of an optical fiber cable.